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The 2023 NFL draft is officially over and it was a memorable one. Within the first three picks there was a huge blockbuster trade. The Houston Texans selected CJ Stroud number two overall and immediately traded back up to three to select Will Anderson Jr. Even with that trade my top three predictions were correct. The biggest shocker of the night was Will Levis falling all the way to the second round. The situation reminded me a lot of Malik Willis in the 2022 NFL draft because he was projected to be drafted in the first round but ended up falling into the third round. Both of those quarterbacks were drafted by the Tennessee Titans. This selection will definitely force some thinking this offseason. They will have to decide if they will stick with Tannehill or head towards the future with either Willis or Levis. The next main talking point with the draft was the puzzling pick that the lions made with the twelfth overall pick. They drafted Alabama running back Jahmyr Gibbs even though they already had De’andre Swift and David Montgomery. Now, the pick makes more sense after the Lions dealt Swift to the Philadelphia Eagles. Then, at thirteen the Packers selected Lukas Van Ess sticking with their defensive first round pattern. Some people including me believe that they would go with Ohio State receiver Jaxon Smith Njigba who was the clear number one receiver in the draft. Then, the Lions picked again with the fifteenth overall pick and in my opinion made the worst pick of the first round. They made a huge reach and drafted Iowa linebacker Jack Campbell who fits the Lions culture and scheme but would have still been available in the second round when the Lions had their next pick. On the other end of the spectrum the New England Patriots got the steal of the draft with Oregon cornerback Christian Gonzalez who I think is the best corner in the draft. Gonzalez is big, strong, and has all the abilities of an NFL ready defensive back. However, after their first pick the Patriots draft went downhill and they made some poor mind boggling picks just like they have the past three drafts. Only time will tell if what I think will happen is what will actually happen but what I do know is that Caleb Williams will be drafted number one overall in the 2024 NFL draft.

After night one of the NFL draft the biggest shocker is Will Levis not being drafted. He had a 1.8% chance of falling to the eighteenth overall pick, but that pick came and went as Levis was still sitting the the green room waiting to here his name called. However, this would not happen on Thursday, but I could see him being picked up very early into the second round by the Detroit Lions. In this situation Levis would most likely sit behind Jared Goff for a year then become the quarterback of the future in the motor-city.

April 27 at seven pm central time. The Carolina Panthers have the first pick followed by the Houston Texans. The Panthers have a big decision to make due to the quarterback talent in this year’s draft. They can take Bryce Young, CJ Stroud, Will Levis, or Anthony Richardson. In my opinion the obvious choice is Bryce Young, but the Panthers are known for not drafting short quarterbacks and Bryce Young is only five foot ten inches tall. The next option would be CJ Stroud, but he just scored an eighteen percent on the S2 cognitive test which just  tests players’ decision making which is pretty important for a quarterback. The next two guys up were late first early second round picks a month ago but have shot up draft boards in the month of April and Will Levis has reportedly told family members he will be a Carolina Panther; however, the source is not a reliable source. If I was the Panthers I would take Bryce Young because he is the best quarterback in the draft and his only downside is his height but that was proven to be no issue while he played in the SEC. Next, are the Houston Texans who should draft a quarterback. However, they could trade back for more draft capital and draft standout wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba and purposely tank in the 2023-24 season and draft Caleb Williams who is one of the best quarterback prospects over the last 15 years. That scenario isn’t the most realistic which is why I think the Texans will take either CJ Stroud or Bryce Young depending on which Quarterback the Panthers draft. Third overall the Arizona Cardinals will take Alabama edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. It’s a pretty obvious pick due to the needs of the Arizona Cardinals. They are truly lacking on the defensive side of the ball. The early first round also has a lacking talent pool for offensive skill players. So, my first three picks for tonight’s draft are Bryce Young, CJ Stroud, Will Anderson Jr. in that order.

NBA Playoffs are starting this weekend. The 8 seeds are not yet decided, but I’ll give you my predictions anyway. I think that this year the Denver Nuggets will win the Finals over the Boston Celtics. I think the Lakers will make a decent run but come up short when Anthony Davis goes down with injury. My sleeper in the east is the Atlanta Hawks as long as Tray Young shows up to play.

The quarterback market has been completely ruined between the 2022 NFL off-season and the 2023 off-season. It all started with Deshaun Watson getting 230 million dollars all guaranteed from the Cleveland Browns. If this deal had been signed three years ago before not playing for two years between injury, holding out, and sexual assault allegations the deal would make sense because Watson was playing like a top five quarterback in the league. However, he was signed after not playing for two years and his suspension was not yet known to any teams. It was eventually eight games but it very easily could have been an entire season and the team would have had to pay him to sit on the bench the whole season. Then, in 2023 Daniel Jones and Geno Smith both had their best seasons yet. They weren’t Hall of Fame numbers but they were top half of the league numbers. They both were getting new deals this off-season no matter what. However, with an already tanking quarterback market they got huge deals. Geno Smith got a three year 75 million dollar deal after being a back-up most of his career that started in 2012. One good season and he is now making 25 million dollars a year for the next three years. Daniel Jones who was drafted early then everybody said he was going to be drafted. He had mediocre first couple years in the league and was up for contract after this season. He played well and ended up leading a mediocre Giants team to a playoff win on Wildcard weekend. This looks like he deserves a huge contract until you realize Daniel Jones only threw fifteen touchdown passes this season. With those numbers the Giants decided Jones was worth 160 million dollars over the next four years. With all this taken into account the next five to ten years will be the best years to be a quarterback with an expiring contract because teams are just handing out millions of dollars to mediocre quarterbacks all throughout the league. This will most likely cause more good teams because teams will have less money to be able to afford more star players like wide receivers, running backs, linebackers, safeties, cornerbacks, etc. The best thing coming out of this is the difference between the bad teams and the good teams will be lessened making the NFL much more competitive.

Heading into this year’s NCAA March Madness tournament the number 1 overall seeds were 147-1 playing against 16 seeds. Only UMBC had upset a one seed in the first round just a few years ago when they beat Virginia. This all changed this season when Fairleigh Dickinson upset number 1 seed Purdue. If one of the one seeds were to lose I would have bet on Purdue due to their lack of depth. Their only guaranteed way to win was if Jack Edey were to put the team on his back like he has done all season. However, FDU was ready for this game plan and was able to upset them.

With March Madness starting everyone is debating their brackets and saying their’s is the best. I never claim to know who is going to win but this year I truly believe that Alabama will win the tournament because of their ability to score and play defense. My underdog of the tournament is Auburn. Their offense isn’t spectacular but they have a top defense in the country and it showed in their first match up against Iowa. The last team I can remember like Auburn (lack of offense but excellent defense) is 2019 Michigan State who upset one of the best teams over the last 15 years (2019 Duke). This leads me to believe that Auburn can easily make a deep run as a 9 seed.

This Spring training some new rules have been implemented. The most controversial is the Pitch Clock.  The whole reason for it is to keep the speed of the game up and bring the length of games down. The pitcher gets 15 seconds to pitch once given the ball (20 seconds with runners on) and the batter is given 8 of those seconds to get himself ready. This seems like a great idea to keep the game interesting. However, as we’ve already seen in a Spring training game it can ruin games. Losing in the ninth inning with 2 out and 2 strikes on him, the batter took too long to get in the box and was given a strike because of it. His team lost the game because of this new rule. You may be thinking that it’s the batters fault but imagine your team is down a run with the winning run at the plate and you lose because the batter didn’t get in the box on time. Knowing this I think that the MLB needs to increase the time or remove it during the ninth inning especially when the game is on the line. The down one run in the ninth inning is the best part of the game when all the pressure is on and everybody has stopped by the tv to see the end of the game even though they haven’t been watching the game all day. 

Super Bowl 57 featured two MVP candidate quarterbacks and two of the best offensive lines in the league. The Eagles were an underdog coming into the season and I definitely did not expect them to make it this far. The Chiefs were also underdogs in my eyes because they lost their best wide receiver. However, both teams pretty clearly proved me wrong by making the Super Bowl and making it one of the best fans have watched over the last decade. Patrick Mahomes continues to show the league why he is the best quarterback in the NFL after a double digit comeback on the biggest stage. Travis Kelce was almost a non-factor with only 6 receptions which I did not think would be a recipe for success for the Chiefs. I thought that if the Chiefs were to win Travis Kelce would have had an excellent game. This also helped Patrick Mahomes’s case for being the best quarterback in the league helping his team win the game even when his best pass catcher didn’t even have double digit receptions. Jalen Hurts also had a good game in which he continued to do what he’s done all season. Break down the defense with his legs. Showing on multiple occasions you have to pass rush Jalen Hurts differently than the other quarterbacks in the NFL. Part of that is how dominant the Eagles offensive line is, featuring who I consider to be the best center in the NFL, a top 5 tackle, and a young guard who is continuing to grow and improve. This was all important but what really decided the game was the defensive side of the ball. Knowing that the defense would decide the game I was sure that the Eagles were going to win the Super Bowl. The Chiefs underrated defense proved me and many other fans wrong. They scored two touchdowns off of force fumbles but one was called back. They made the stops in the second half to help their offense complete the comeback they needed to win the game. They showed they might have less big names and “talent” but they showed up when everything was on the line. They chose the exact right moment to play one of their best halves of football all season.

On the biggest stage in the entirety of football. Most Americans will be tuning in for kickoff. The Super Bowl, the two best teams playing each other for four quarters. The NFL’s biggest game and they gave bad grass. How is your grass for the most important game all season so bad the kicker slips on the kick-off. People say it’s because they painted the field but how are you not prepared for this as the biggest sports league in the United States.